12:11 AM,
Jul. 31, 2014

Keelyn McCary and Jorden Payne visit with Boomer, a therapy dog, recently at the Louisiana Association for the Blind in Shreveport.

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Boomer's tail thumps against the floor as children crowd in for a canine kiss.

Four years after the low-slung, mixed-breed dog showed up at Mollie E. Webb Speech and Hearing Center in Shreveport, he's a star. New graduate students ask for him by name when they start classes at the center. He helps researchers at LSU Health Shreveport. He even has a birthday bash, a Facebook page and a resume.

"He wags his tail in his sleep," said Dr. Sandra Hayes. She was longing for a therapy dog when Boomer appeared one April morning, his right paw raised in pain. She and a student discovered a gun pellet under his ...